— Bruce Wayne's drive to become Batman arose from witnessing the deaths of his parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne, at the hands of small-time criminal Joe Chill, who shot and killed them after they had left a movie theater.

— The Batman video game called "Arkham City" takes place in an abandoned movie theatre (The Monarch, outside of which Bruce Wayne's parents were killed).

— In the "Dark Knight" graphic novel by Miller, the Joker slaughters the audience of a television talk show with gas.

— In the same book, a man beleaguered man shoots up a porn theater after being fired from his job, killing three people with a handgun.

— "The Dark Knight Rises" features at least two scenes where unsuspecting people are attacked in a public venue: the stock exchange and a football stadium.